A Day in the Life of Haibara Ai, Eighteen Years Old
by DiscordianSamba
Summary: Eleven years ago, at age eighteen, Miyano Shiho tried to kill herself, and failed. Eleven years later, at age eighteen, Haibara Ai had more than she could have ever wished for- if not, perhaps, everything.


**AN** : I often find myself thinking that it doesn't seem like it would make much sense for Ai to actually want to take the antidote, once it's done. If she has the option to grow up normally, she has plenty of reasons to want to try and seize a chance at a second (and quite honestly, in some respects, her first) childhood. To that extent, I decided to dabble with a future fic, setting it eleven years in the future, in which Ai is a third year high school student, alongside the Detective Boys!

I hope everyone enjoys!

* * *

 **A Day in the Life of Haibara Ai, Eighteen Years Old**

* * *

Haibara Ai was, without a doubt, not a morning person.

While she was never one who cared all the much for oversleeping either- she only viewed it as a waste of precious of time, she often found herself wishing that mornings simply didn't start half as early as they did. All the more so on school days, when she had to begin facing the day at around seven in the morning.

At the very least, she was old enough to drink coffee now without anyone criticizing her choices. The extra jolt it provided her first thing in the morning was a godsend, without it, she was sure to be dead on her feet. Having someone else to make breakfast for her was a blessing as well- even if she did find herself criticizing his choices of food from time to time, even now.

"Professor," barely even so much as glancing up from her toast, she felt the old man flinch underneath her gaze, "...that's _quite_ the hearty breakfast that you made for yourself this morning."

"Isn't it fine every once in awhile?" As if to protect the food he had made for himself, Agasa Hiroshi pulled back his plate a bit, shielding it with his hands. "It's only just bacon and eggs."

"Eggs with cheese, and some rather high calorie bacon, judging from the packaging." Ai noted, a tight frown crossing her face. "Didn't the doctor warn you about salt?"

"Well..." The Professor began, knowing full well that he didn't have much of an argument here. "It was on sale."

"I see." Ai said simply, taking a bite out of her toast, swallowing it before continuing. "Then in that case, you had better take care to mind what you eat for the rest of the day. I suppose there's nothing I can do when you've already made it. But its only just this once, Professor."

"U-understood." Slowly nodding his head, the portly old man let out a sigh of almost relief. From experience, he knew that could have gone much worse. One would think the same experience would advise him against doing such things, but when it came food, he always did tend to be rather weak to temptation.

Still, it would be wise to not try and push his luck again this week. If there was one thing that hadn't changed at all in the eleven years since he had taken her in, it was her strict nature about his diet. Well, he supposed in a way, it was simply the way she expressed her concern for him, so when viewed in that light, it was almost touching, really.

Almost.

"Well, do make sure there's no egg left between your teeth before you leave." Ai noted. "You want to _impress_ Fusae-san, don't you? We can't have you showing up to your lunch together with food in your teeth."

There was a slight pause then, as Ai's eyes narrowed. " _Again_."

"It's fine, Fusae-san isn't bothered about such things." Agasa began to tell her, only to find himself cut off.

" _I_ care." Ai told him firmly. "So be sure to brush your teeth very well before you leave. And floss."

With that note, Ai finished off the last of her own breakfast, scooting the chair back. It had been years since she had needed any kind of boost to get her up to the table. Though she had started off rather short, she'd sprouted up rather quickly once she'd hit third grade, putting a life of having to stand on her toes to reach things behind her, and not a moment too soon.

Though, judging from how things were working out for the likes of the one who had been shrunk by the same drug, she didn't think that she would grow much past this point. She supposed perhaps that was up for a bit of debate, since while he had taken the completed antidote as soon as it was safe for him to do so, she, on the other hand, had opted to not do so.

After all, there was nothing for Miyano Shiho to return to. Haibara Ai, on the other hand, had both things that she had lost, and that which she'd never had before. Since she had been given the rare chance to start over, nearly from scratch, what reason was there for her to not take it?

While it was true that attending elementary school had not been the most intellectuality stimulating of times, she couldn't claim that it hadn't been an interesting experience. It was one that she never had the chance to have before, at the very least, not that she could remember. She had, actually, gone to a real elementary school once, during her first childhood, but once the Organization had recognized her talent, she had been pulled out of it to be tutored in private.

Such an education had made her brilliant, to be sure, but it had denied her the normal things a girl of her age should have had. _Friends_ , namely, something of which she now had in abundance. It was those friends that had factored so strongly into her decision to remain as Haibara Ai, and one that she had never had cause to regret.

Speaking of those three, though...

"Ah, that's right." Glancing over her shoulder from the sink, Ai set down the plate she had been rinsing. "I'll be coming home a bit late today. I'm taking over Ayumi's cleaning duty today."

"Ayumi-kun has a tournament coming up, doesn't she?" The Professor asked. "Make sure to find out when and where, so I can go and cheer her on. With any luck, those two should be able to make it as well."

"Provided _that one_ doesn't get himself neck deep in another case again." Ai lightly noted, wiping her hands off. "Make sure to impress upon him that it's her last tournament as a high school student, so it's important. After he already missed Genta's, he had better be sure to actually show up this time."

"Well, he did _try_ to make it." The Professor noted. "But I'll be sure to pass that on to him. It's only just too bad that Mitsuhiko-kun's team couldn't make it to the finals. I was looking forward to seeing him play."

"It can't be helped." Ai remarked. "He ended up with a bad match up for his final match. It was only expected that he'd lose. Considering the strength of the rest of the go club is rather lackluster, it's impressive that he managed to get as far as he did on his own."

"With that, Professor, I'm off." Scooping up her school bag, Ai glanced back towards him, locking eyes with him from across the room. "Remember to brush your teeth this time. And I expect a full report about how things went when I get home from school."

After all, if things went well, she could end up with _Fusae Campbell_ as her grandmother. If that happened, she could say goodbye to the life of having to work a part time job to be able to afford brand name goods, and say hello to the life of a heiress to what was only her most loved brand name of all.

Well, she'd be lying if she tried to claim that was her _only_ motivation for wanting the two together. For the old man who had took her in and looked after her for all these years, it was only natural that she wanted to see him happy.

The Professor was her family, after all.

But well... she wasn't about to admit that out loud.

* * *

"Haibara-san, good morning!"

"Good morning, Mitsuhiko-kun. Just you today?" Halting her pace only just a little, Ai allowed the one who had called out to her to catch up. He had always been on the tall when they were children, so it was rather expected that he had turned into something of a beanpole as a near-adult.

"Yes." Nodding his head, Mitsuhiko gave her a smile. "Ayumi-chan and Genta have morning practice today."

"Ah, that's right." Ai recalled. "Speaking of Genta-kun, has he decided yet?"

"I don't think so." Mitsuhiko said, shaking his head. "When I talked to him yesterday, he said he was still thinking it over. Well, our judo club does have a number of talented people, so it's no wonder he's thinking so hard about who will be the next captain."

"Well, I suppose he has plenty of time to think about it." Ai remarked. "Since he doesn't have to worry about studying for entrance exams. I still think it would be wise to go to college to get a business degree, but I suppose Genta-kun's future is his own."

"Well, he's been planning on taking over the family store since we were all just kids." Mitsuhiko told her. "But it's too bad, that all four of us won't be going to the same college."

"Well, we'll see him anyways, even if he doesn't." Ai said simply. "We're still the Detective Boys, after all. Though I suppose it's about time to do something about that name."

"Ah, that's true." Mitsuhiko admitted, folding his arms in front of his chest. "We've started to get more and more serious requests these days, all thanks to the website you made for us, so we should probably consider thinking of a new name. We can't just keep clinging to a name we came up with in elementary school forever."

"Besides, Ayumi and I were never _boys_ to begin with." Ai remarked, quickening her pace again, so that she fell a bit ahead of him, leaving him scrambling to keep up for a moment. "Speaking of club presidents, have you decided who will be taking your place for the go club?"

"Yes, no problem!" Nodding his head, Mitsuhiko felt almost vaguely grateful for the change of topic. "What about your club, Haibara-san? Don't you have to decide who replaces you?"

"I suppose I do." Ai remarked. "It would have been nice if I could have gotten the science club a few more members, though, but I suppose that's a matter I'll have to leave to my juniors."

Well, all in all, her high school life hadn't been bad. It wasn't as if she had anything else to compare it to. Miyano Shiho, after all, had gone straight to university. High school life, clubs... those were all things that she had never gotten to experience.

She was glad that she had gotten the chance.

* * *

"Ai, good morning!"

"Good morning, Ayumi." Glancing up from her book, Ai marked her place, before closing it. "Is practice over?"

"Yes." Nodding her head, Ayumi took her seat next to her, beaming almost from ear to ear. "I'm pretty confident about the next tournament! Since it's my last, I'm going to make it count!"

"Well, you came so close to the title last time, I would hate to see you leave high school without it, especially after you went through so much trouble to create a girl's kendo club. I'll be supporting you, Ayumi." Ai told her. While her own smile might never be as bright and powerful as that of her friend's, around Ayumi, it always tended to be a bit brighter.

"Thank you, Ai!" Nodding her head, Ayumi beamed all the wider. "I won't let you down! Ah, and once again, thank you for taking over my cleaning duty today."

"It's fine." Ai told her. "I know important this tournament is to you, after all. You should practice until you're satisfied. Of course," pausing for a moment, her tone turning more chiding, "...as long as you keep yourself properly hydrated, and take breaks."

"Yes, yes, don't worry. I promise that I will." Ayumi said. "You're really like a mom sometimes, Ai."

"I would prefer _older sister_ , at least." Pouting a little, Ai nevertheless accepted her friend's teasing with grace. "But we can hardly have you repeating Genta-kun's mistake from his first year. Getting himself all excited about proving himself in his first tournament as a high school student, and then not even being able to participate... just remembering it make me angry again!"

"That's why you're more like a mom." Ayumi told her. "But I like you that way, Ai~."

"Well that's good, since I have no plans to change." Ai remarked, her tone light and teasing. "That's right, the Professor wanted to know when and where your first match will be. He wants to come cheer you on as well."

"Then, I'll tell him when I know for sure!" Ayumi said. "What about Shinichi-niichan and Ran-neechan?"

"Ran-san will come without a doubt." Ai said, nodding her head. "As for Kudo-kun... that is the real mystery, isn't it?"

"Ah... that's true." Ayumi admitted. "Just between the two of us, I'm almost glad that we haven't been running into cases left and right like we used to, back in first grade. Being able to pick and choose the cases that we work on is much better."

"Well, to be fair, I'm sure Kudo-kun thinks so as well." Ai remarked. "Especially seeing as he has a child now, with one more on the way. Not to mention the way Hattori-kun's twins keep ending up at his place, for one reason or another."

"Ah, that reminds me though, I need to pick up something for Ran-neechan's baby shower." Ayumi said, looking almost sheepish that it had managed to slip her mind. "Did you pick up anything yet, Ai?"

"No." Shaking her head, Ai gave her a smile. "Why don't we go pick up something together this Sunday? Just the two of us, of course."

"Yeah!" Nodding her head, Ayumi's bright smile quickly returned. "This Sunday it is!"

* * *

"Oh there you are, Haibara!"

"I'm not sure where else I would be at this time of day, other than the classroom, Genta-kun." Barely glancing up at the young man, Ai let out a slight sigh, resting her chopsticks against her lunchbox. "Did you need something from me?"

"We got a request, a request!" Genta told her, beaming broadly- before his smile faltered, his brows furrowing together a bit. "...is what I'd like to say, but there's something about this one that kind of rubs me the wrong way."

"Let's see." Holding out her hand, Ai accepted the phone that she was given, carefully scanning over the request that they had gotten. All requests for the Detective Boys naturally went through their leader, but Genta had long since moved past the phase of deciding to accept things on his own.

Back when they were children, declaring himself leader had simply been something he'd done on a whim, wanting to be the most important one. But as years passed, he had begun to treat the role seriously- really, there were times she couldn't help but be impressed.

Whenever they got a request now, it was something that they all discussed together as a group- though with entrance exams coming up, she imagined that would become a bit harder. It was too bad that they had been split up in two different classes- but Genta and Mitsuhiko were still right next door, so it wasn't as if it was that big of a deal.

"You're right." Ai said, handing the phone back to Genta. "I don't like it."

"I thought not. Mitsuhiko didn't seem to like it either." Genta said with a frown, glancing over it again. "So, what do you want to do? Accept it or not?"

"Not." Not even hesitating with her answer, Ai picked up her chopsticks again. "If anything, we should find out who this ex-girlfriend is, and warn her about this guy. Well, I suppose before we make any decision like that though, we should show it to Ayumi first."

"That's what I was thinking too." Genta said, tucking his phone back away into his pocket. "But is Ayumi not here?"

"She finished her lunch early, and went to practice a bit more." Ai told him. "Speaking of which, Genta-kun, you need to hurry up and decide on someone to replace you as captain. At this rate, you're just going to leave the judo club in a lurch."

"I know, I know." Holding a hand, Genta flashed her something of an awkward. Well, matured though he might have, Genta was still Genta at the end of the day. "I don't see why I have to step down now anyways. It's not like I've got any entrance exams to study for."

"You were the one who decided he'd be spending the time he wasn't using to study on learning how to run your father's store, weren't you?" Ai pointed out, arching a brow. "Don't complain about it now."

"...yes ma'am." Rubbing the back of his head, Genta could only avert his gaze. "Ah, but that's right though, before I forget, Kobayashi-sensei called me the other day."

"Isn't it _Shiratori_ -sensei now?" Ai asked.

"Ah, you're right, she did get married and all." Genta recalled. "That was fun, that wedding. And the food was good too!"

"Well, considering that Inspector Shiratori went all out and hired a first class chef, it had better have been." Ai remarked. "So? What about Shiratori-sensei's call, Genta-kun?"

"Ah right, right." Nodding his head, Genta beamed, pounding his chest with pride. "She said that she wanted us to come and speak to her current class of students. Sounds fun, right? It's been awhile since the four of us went back to our old elementary school!"

"I thought that's what it might be." Ai remarked, a slight smile crossing her face. "Alright. So long as it doesn't get in the way of Ayumi's tournament, or Ran-san's baby shower, I don't have any problems with it."

"Then, I'll tell her we can come!" Genta said. "It's time for the Detective Boys to shine!"

"About that name, Genta-kun..."

* * *

The professor's date must have been going _very_ well, since by the time she arrived home, he'd yet to return. There was a time when having someone not where they should be when she expected them to be there would have sent her into a panic, but those days too, had long since passed.

Sometimes, it was tempting to think of her days with the Organization as something of a dream, a horrible nightmare, if she wanted to be more exact. But while she had embraced her second chance at the kind of life that she had never gotten to have, she would never go that far. It was true that she had been forced into it, and have never really been given any choice, but she couldn't ignore what she had done in the past.

Living with that knowledge was her repentance in a way.

"He had better be sure to have a _very good_ report when he gets back, then." Ai said, mostly to herself. Carefully taking off her shoes and exchanging them for slippers, she made her way to the living room, where she placed her schoolbag on the couch. Her homework could wait- something of that level would only take her an hour, at most.

Even if the professor wasn't back yet, there was someone that she needed greet, after all.

Resting her hand on the picture frame, one that she could now display without fear, Ai wondered when it was that she had become able to smile at it. For some time, even after the trial ended, she still couldn't bring herself to display it. She had hidden it away in her desk drawer, just the knowledge that it was there enough for her- and at times, almost too much.

But now, she could smile for her.

"I'm back, _oneechan_."


End file.
